Dragons dominate district
Monte del Sol beats Tierra Encantada, improves to 5-0 in 1-1A/3A
Moises Cerda subscribes to the axiom that you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. While Monte del Sol head boys soccer coach Fritz Rothdach preaches passing over dribbling on the pitch, he makes one noted exception — for Cerda, the Dragons’ dynamic leading goal scorer.
“In life, there are exceptions,” Fothdach said. “I never tell Moises anything. This is a unique talent. He’ll just never be a passer. He’s a scorer.”
Cerda might not be the best of passers, but he has the tenacity that fits the Dragons’ overall mold. He doggedly scored a pair of goals midway through the second half of a District 1-1A/3A match against previously undefeated Tierra Encantada on a wet, cold Tuesday afternoon. The goals held up in a 2-1 Dragons win that put them in the driver’s seat in the district at 4-0.
Until Cerda punctured the Alacranes’ confidence with a goal inside the goalkeeper’s box in the 51st minute, the match was decidedly in Tierra Encantada’s favor. The Alacranes dominated possession and put plenty of pressure on the Dragons defense.
Monte del Sol (8-3-1 overall, 5-0 in 1-1A/3A) finally cracked in the 31st minute when Alacranes midfielder Danny Pachardo fired a shot inside the penalty box that deflected off a Dragons defender and the ball bounced to teammate Carlos Madrid, who redirected it over Monte del Sol ’keeper Noel Puentes for a 1-0 lead.
With all the pressure Tierra Encantada (8-1, 5-1) applied to the Dragons, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before the goals would come pouring into the net. But the onegoal lead also exposed the Alacranes’ lack of experience in high-intensity matches — they outscored their opponents 40-2 in fashioning an 8-0 mark.
“They’re used to getting a quick lead and coasting to the end,” Tierra Encantada head coach Kurtis Montoya said. “This time, [Monte del Sol] took it back.”
If anything, the Dragons learned how to handle adversity, thanks to a 1-all tie to St. Michael’s, a 4-3 loss to Taos and a 2-1 win over Santa Fe Prep. The first step to overcoming their predicament was to pass the ball better than they did through most of the first half. Rothdach saw too much dribbling and players trying to take on an entire defense instead of relying on teammates.
“It’s some stuff in soccer that we’re working on,” Rothdach said. “When we have injuries, we don’t have the depth. So, when you’re taking three or four dribbles, you’re really risking your limbs. It is just something that I keep pushing and pushing.”
The Dragons strengthened Rothdach’s argument when Pedro Chavez landed on his right shoulder as he tried to attack from the top of the penalty box but had the ball taken away. He played sporadically as he complained to Rothdach that the shoulder popped in and out of its socket.
That Chavez was willing to go back in demonstrated the mental toughness the team possesses.
“I don’t know if you see our chant [in Monte del Sol’s [pre-match huddle],” Cerda said. “We chant, ‘We’re warriors, we’re Dragons.’ We don’t
want to lose or tie, so we fight until the end.”
That fighting spirit finally came through in the second half, when Cerda attacked as the Alacranes mishandled the ball in the backfield, and he slipped into the penalty box and punched the ball into the upper half of the net to tie the score. The Dragons kept putting pressure on the Alacranes, and finally broke through in the 57th minute when Joel Puentes found Cerda on the right flank. Cerda attacked and had his first shot deflected, but it bounced right back to him, so he redirected it into the upper right corner for a 2-1 lead and his 21st goal of the season.
“It’s scary to have a little bit of freedom,” Cerda said. “I’m a striker and I have to do what’s best for the team. Sometimes I pass, but I usually shoot. It’s not like I have to follow something strictly.”
It’s also why Rothdach is willing to bend the rules a little bit.
As great as passing can be, the name of the game is to score.
And Cerda does just that.